Animal, vegetable, mineral?
May 9, 2018 7:44 PM Subscribe
Help me ID this stick I found? San Diego, about a month ago....
Here’s a link to the imgur: gallery , photos taken not in found habitat. Picked up on San Diego, wedged in some rocks at the Embarcadero Marina Park. I think it’s a stick, friend says it’s coral (??)...there are some weird formations that look more like suckers than like broken branches, but it’s light like driftwood and has no animal odor. What izzit!? I’ll add more photos if need be.
Here’s a link to the imgur: gallery , photos taken not in found habitat. Picked up on San Diego, wedged in some rocks at the Embarcadero Marina Park. I think it’s a stick, friend says it’s coral (??)...there are some weird formations that look more like suckers than like broken branches, but it’s light like driftwood and has no animal odor. What izzit!? I’ll add more photos if need be.
Yeah, looks like old bamboo rhizomes.
posted by the webmistress at 8:05 PM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by the webmistress at 8:05 PM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yep, some sort of root/rhizome thing.
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:04 PM on May 9, 2018
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:04 PM on May 9, 2018
Definitely a plant part, definitely not coral.
It could be a rhizome of bamboo or something else.
It could be a chunk of jade that has dried and aged well. That’s consistent with the light feel: jades don’t really grow wood, just wood-ish succulent stems that are mostly water weight when alive. Cut off a sliced of jade and you’ll see that ‘sucker’ structure.
There’s tons of gnarly old jades along the coast of CA, I assume there are plenty in San Diego/marina park.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:26 AM on May 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
It could be a rhizome of bamboo or something else.
It could be a chunk of jade that has dried and aged well. That’s consistent with the light feel: jades don’t really grow wood, just wood-ish succulent stems that are mostly water weight when alive. Cut off a sliced of jade and you’ll see that ‘sucker’ structure.
There’s tons of gnarly old jades along the coast of CA, I assume there are plenty in San Diego/marina park.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:26 AM on May 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
This looks like a chunk of Arundo donax rhizome. Arundo is a giant grass that resembles bamboo, and it's horribly invasive. Nearly all creeks in Southern California are infested with Arundo. There are a number of places where Arundo is being removed as part of habitat restoration (Arundo also sucks massive amounts of water out of creeks so getting rid of it is good for water flow).
Because of the massive rhizomes, there's no good way to remove Arundo except to use herbicides. One common removal technique is cut-stump treatments. Basically, you cut the Arundo stalks at ground level, then apply a herbicide to the cut surface. The herbicide will then enter the root system and kill the rhizome. Once the rhizome is dead, it's easy for chunks of it to break off during winter storms.
Fun fact - Arundo stalks were used as roofing material in many of the California missions.
Background - 5 years working as an invasive plant removal tech.
posted by Orrorin at 12:34 PM on May 15, 2018
Because of the massive rhizomes, there's no good way to remove Arundo except to use herbicides. One common removal technique is cut-stump treatments. Basically, you cut the Arundo stalks at ground level, then apply a herbicide to the cut surface. The herbicide will then enter the root system and kill the rhizome. Once the rhizome is dead, it's easy for chunks of it to break off during winter storms.
Fun fact - Arundo stalks were used as roofing material in many of the California missions.
Background - 5 years working as an invasive plant removal tech.
posted by Orrorin at 12:34 PM on May 15, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jbenben at 7:50 PM on May 9, 2018 [2 favorites]